►Today’s Public Official Misfit is GSA Administrator Martha Johnson Print

Today’s Public Official Misfit is GSA Administrator Martha Johnson

 
Martha Johnson has spent a great deal of time porking out at the public trough. She began her career in the federal government by working for the Gore-Clinton transition team in early 1993.
 
In April 2009, President Obama was persuaded to nominate Johnson to serve as the administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA). In February 2010, the Senate confirmed Johnson’s appointment to head the GSA.
 
In keeping with the habits of most of our self-serving federal employees, Johnson became accustomed to wasting taxpayer money to fund her vacations and those of her underlings.
 
Unfortunately for Johnson, her insatiable appetite for federal pork came to an abrupt end on April 2, 2012 when she was forced to resign and two of her aides were fired.
 
Johnson’s demise came about when it was reported that the GSA spent $822,000 for 300 people to attend a training conference at the swank M Resort spa and casino near Las Vegas in October 2010. The outrageous expenses authorized by Johnson included:
  1. $147,000 for airfare and lodging
  2. $3,200 for a mind reader
  3. $6,300 on commemorative Recovery Act coin sets displayed in velvet boxes
  4. $6,000 on canteens, key-chains and t-shirts
  5. $75,000 on a team building exercise to build a bicycle
Government officials and employees on the federal, state and local level consistently hose the taxpayers by attending useless conferences at exotic venues. Some of their favorite spots are Vail in January (why January?), Las Vega, Boca Raton, Monterey, and of course San Juan, Puerto Rico.
 
Hopefully the day will come when all government employees afflicted with Johnson-ism are fired.